It’s that time again, January Challenge check in… (If you’re new to this, find out more on Apartment Therapy, here.) Saturday was 100% devoted to kitchen cleaning and organizing in our home. I managed to clear the clutter, reorganize cabinets and give the kitchen a good cleaning, and I feel great. Knowing that this project was going to be a big one, I started the day with a list of goals to maintain focus.

1 // Clear off the countertops, move everything to the dining room table
2 // Empty the dishwasher, do the dishes in the sink
3 // Wipe down countertops, stove, oven door, sink, cabinet doors
4 // Pantry clean out, discard expired items and group items accordingly
5 // Base cabinet clean out, broken appliances and unused appliances go to the outbox, reorganize
6 // Upper cabinet clean out, pull everything out and rethink organization
7 // Clear the fridge doors, photos go into an album, recipes into a binder, reminders into my phone calendar
8 // Wipe down fridge doors & microwave
9 // Wipe down inside of cabinets
10 // Put it all back together

My counter now houses…

Microwave
Fruit Bowl
Paper Towel Holder
Drying Mat
Coffee Pot
Vase for Wooden Spoons
Olive Oil

This may seem like a lot still, but these are all things that get frequent use and serve a purpose, and in some cases the items add some style and personality. The functionality of this space has improved exponentially. Here are the before and after pics, focusing on our biggest problem areas.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

My favorite updates:

*Using a gorgeous white vase to house my wooden spoons.
*Switching out the dish soap into a pretty glass dispenser.
*Adding some personal photos to the window ledge. More on that tomorrow!

Even if you’re not participating in the January Challenge, I strongly encourage doing this. The project took me about 4 hours to complete, but it was so worth it. Also, for those of you who don’t know, our home is a fixer upper on its way to being all fixed up, so please know that the kitchen is in progress. My husband is working on the remaining concrete countertops, we have ordered a new sink, and I’m shopping for a faucet and thinking about backsplash tile, so this kitchen is about to be perfection (for us anyway). Stay tuned for all of the aforementioned projects.

xo